1. Field
The field relates to exercise mats. In particular, the exercise mat disclosed provides visual markers to help exercisers improve their form and get better results by establishing proper alignment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pilates is a physical fitness system developed in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates in Germany. Today there are many millions of practitioners. The program focuses on the core postural muscles which help keep the body balanced and which are essential to providing support for the spine. In particular, pilates exercises teach awareness of breath and alignment of the spine, and aim to strengthen the deep torso muscles. Essentially pilates is an exercise style that involves training the muscles to improve posture and alignment. There are three types of pilates, the most popular being the mat workout, where much time is spent on the floor using gravity and one's own body weight to create resistance.
Yoga is a system of exercises practiced to promote control of the body and mind. While stretching is certainly involved, yoga is really about creating balance in the body through developing both strength and flexibility. This is done through the performance of poses or postures, each of which has specific physical benefits. The poses can be done quickly in succession, creating heat in the body through movement or more slowly to increase stamina and perfect the alignment of the pose. The poses are a constant, but the approach to them varies depending on the tradition in which the teacher has trained.
Conventional exercise mats do not provide indications for placement of body parts to achieve proper form and alignment during exercises like pilates and yoga. Such improper form and misalignment may lessen the benefits of the exercises performed, and may also lead to serious injuries.
A grid of orthogonal lines on a mat is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,387,013, issued to Marquez. The grid lines disclosed are solid lines not associated with specific body parts, and do not take into account the placement of different body parts depending on the positions taken in the exercise. In addition, the grid lines do not make use of normative data for typical distances between anatomical parts placed on the mats.